Callaway Epic Pro Iron In Hand Pics w/ comparison to Apex, PXG's, Srixon & Mizy

Warrick · June 2, 2017

Just ordered mine. Epic 5 - AW with LZ95 5.5 soft stepped.

Nice, jumping in on the irons. The feedback seems quite positive so far, hope you like them.

TM_HOYER · June 2, 2017

Just ordered mine. Epic 5 - AW with LZ95 5.5 soft stepped.

Nice, jumping in on the irons. The feedback seems quite positive so far, hope you like them.

If they are as good as the driver and fairways, I will be really happy. I am recovering from sepsis and I think the lighter shaft and soft stepping will be just what I am looking for to get my distances to pre-sepsis levels.

DTown3011 · June 2, 2017

4H ordered with stock/stiff Recoil 780.

My bag is done.....

Ordered the #3 with KBS Tour Proto

Should be a good one!

Awesome to see the KBS Proto Hybrid shaft as a custom option. That's brand new for this release. Their hybrid options are extremely limited. Would love to see ATMOS hybrid and the heavier weights of the Graphite Design HY. But adding the KBS shaft is a nice addition!

youngunz5840 · June 2, 2017

The comparison pic with the z765 changed my idea of what the pros looked like. Looks good at address. Might have to try a couple swings today when I go to get a grip for my 2 iron

dmeeksDC · June 3, 2017

Look good at address because you can't see how ugly the back of the iron is. No doubt they will perform -- Callaway makes cutting edge stuff.

But I do have to look at them and these are not doing it for me. I don't know what it is about the styling of the current Callaway irons -- some of them remind me of cheap suits. I like the Steelhead Pro more than these.

I still long for the look of the '14 Apex Pro. Looks great, plays great.

Golf Scientist · June 26, 2017

Had no intentions of hitting the Epic Pro today when I stepped in the shop for a fitting on Trackamn. I was honest with the guy and said it would be a hard sell because I don't think they look great and I know they carry a higher price point. I asked for a blind test where I wouldn't look at what head and shaft combo I was hitting. Hit every PXG head with a variety of shafts and I was unimpressed. I know in between I hit an Epic Pro and it didn't do anything for me either. For reference my gamer set is 765 with LZ 6.0 and I wasn't getting over 116 ball speed today. Then he hands me another club and I knew it was the Epic Pro again and asked me to hit it. This time it was with a Steelfiber 95. 1.49 smash factor and 121 ball speed. I kept hitting it and hitting it. Got to 1.50 twice and didn't dip below a 1.46. Was pleasantly surprised on one shot that I immediately said felt a little toe ish. Then the screen pops up 1.49 smash factor again. And these were dead online too. For the rest of the session I alternated between i200 and Epic Pro with the Epic clearly having the better numbers. Epic Pro looked by far the best at address of any of the clubs I hit. The Epic Pro felt good at contact. Not forged soft, but crisp and powerful. I got the feeling that the ball jumps off the face more on Epic Pro than i200 if that makes sense. Both were good but Epic Pro was outstanding on dispersion. And unfortunately they didn't have a Steelfiber to test in the Ping.The Epic Pro wasn't even on my radar. The price really doesn't bother me but the badging still does. I hate to be petty but if they just had a cleaner badge it would really help the decision. It would be about a $100 per club difference, assuming Steelfiber is the shaft. I hope to head back Saturday for another round of Trackman testing and include the standard Epic. They'll also let me take them out so I hope to test them outside as well.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I was at a Callaway demo day the end of last week, and went with the sole intent of comparing the Epic Pro irons to my Taylormade RSI TP irons. My desire was to test them with the standard shafts (LZ 105, and Recoils) as well as LZ 95, Steelfiber i95, and anything else the Callaway fitter had on hand and recommended. Unfortunately they hadn't brought any Steelfibers. When I tested my RSI TPs before I ordered them I had tested with the Steelfibers, and a number of other different shafts. I had got the most carry and overall distance with the Steelfibers, and like you my dispersion was very good with them, but based on the upcharge and the rep's input I decided to go with the Tour V in the RSI TP. When I tested the Epic Pro iron 7 iron against my RSI TP 7 iron I was getting 20 yards more distance out of the Epic Pro (based on both the Trackman Callaway brought with them, and my Swing Caddie 2 I brought with me). From my memory of the Swing Caddie 2 data and calculations after the fact I believe I was getting ~32 yards more carry in the air and had ~6-13 yards less hop and roll out after landing with the EPs vs the TPs. A guy I know with PXG 0311s with Steelfiber 95s (not sure if they are basic 311,T version, or XF version, but regardless with roughly the the same loft as the Epic Pros and Steelfiber shafts I was interested in seeing how they compared). I was getting ~6-8 less yards with the PXG, but liked the feel, and dispersion the Steelfibers gave (just like I recalled when testing the RSI TP with Steelfibers). In the end I ended up going home and ordering myself a 5-AW of the Epic Pro irons with Steelfiber i95 shafts with the hopes for the best of both worlds (feel and dispersion of the i95s with the distance, trajectory, and forgiveness of the EP heads). To my recollection I was getting balls speeds in the 120s with a smash factor in the 1.3s with the standard 6.0 LZ 105 shafts, so your post gives me hope I may get even better with the i95s.

Did you do more testing, and end up making a decision? If you haven't, and don't end up making a decision before I receive my clubs I can give you more feedback after I've received and tested my clubs (if you like). (My current order status in the Callaway system is "being processed" which could mean anything from shipping out tomorrow to a couple of weeks from now).

4rheel · September 28, 2017

So how did the Steelfiber i95 shafts work out? I'm interested in this combo but haven't seen any reviews.

clinkinfo · May 17, 2018

I still get enjoyment from the "it only goes further because the lofts are stronger " comments. In this instance the '6 iron lofted' 7 iron epic had a max height that was 10m higher than the p750 7 iron.

Sorry Callaway, I for one will not be buying these Epic irons because they go too high...

Don’t bother. The haters just hate, they never understand launch and peak height, and never address the issue you are pointing out. It’s engineering, you cannot just lower loft to get distance because the launch would come down as well and become unplayable. The club is doing something more underneath to allow a stronger loft yet simultaneously higher peak height! Specifically, it’s lowering the CG, which lets the dynamic loft increase, which gives a faster ballspeed and more optimized launch for many players. If you used traditional lofts with those lowered CG’s you’d probably get peak heights of 50 yards.

But hey, it’s just always cranked lofts alone right? I guess they just go higher because it was a full moon that testing day.

clinkinfo · May 17, 2018

Had no intentions of hitting the Epic Pro today when I stepped in the shop for a fitting on Trackamn. I was honest with the guy and said it would be a hard sell because I don't think they look great and I know they carry a higher price point.

I asked for a blind test where I wouldn't look at what head and shaft combo I was hitting. We started with TM 770 with recoil 110 and it was ok but nothing great. Hit every PXG head with a variety of shafts and I was unimpressed. Which was a shame as I was looking forward to those the most. I know in between I hit an Epic Pro and it didn't do anything for me either.

So he hands me a Ping i200 and I hit it well. KBS 120 shaft with smash at 1.46 and highest ball speeds I've seen yet at 118 for a 7 iron. For reference my gamer set is 765 with LZ 6.0 and I wasn't getting over 116 ball speed today. The Ping felt surprisingly good. I actually had no idea it was a Ping club and figured he gave me the TM forged club again. It felt that good. Dispersion was great too.

Then he hands me another club and I knew it was the Epic Pro again and asked me to hit it. This time it was with a Steelfiber 95. 1.49 smash factor and 121 ball speed. I kept hitting it and hitting it. Got to 1.50 twice and didn't dip below a 1.46. Was pleasantly surprised on one shot that I immediately said felt a little toe ish. Then the screen pops up 1.49 smash factor again. And these were dead online too. For the rest of the session I alternated between i200 and Epic Pro with the Epic clearly having the better numbers.

I'm gonna go back and do more testing but the Epic is definitely in play. Going to hit standard Epic as well and if I pull the trigger it will be STD in 4/5 and Pro 7-W. the Epic Pro looked by far the best at address of any of the clubs I hit. The Epic Pro felt good at contact. Not forged soft, but crisp and powerful. I got the feeling that the ball jumps off the face more on Epic Pro than i200 if that makes sense.

I had him measure the loft after and the Ping was 2 degrees weaker and a hair longer. Could account for some of the ball speed variance. But not dispersion. Both were good but Epic Pro was outstanding on dispersion. Wish I would have had him measure Lie as I'm hoping the Ping was flatter (I need upright) and accounts for the smash factor difference. Base specs say Ping is more upright so it might blow that theory out of the water. And unfortunately they didn't have a Steelfiber to test in the Ping.

So, very encouraging. The Epic Pro wasn't even on my radar. The price really doesn't bother me but the badging still does. I hate to be petty but if they just had a cleaner badge it would really help the decision. It would be about a $100 per club difference, assuming Steelfiber is the shaft. I hope to head back Saturday for another round of Trackman testing and include the standard Epic. They'll also let me take them out so I hope to test them outside as well.

I agree with you on the badging, it’s a weird badge. I wonder if an iron refinisher could just refinish those badges in like solid black or something and tone them down?